We live in world enamored with records, stats and facts.  We love people who know a lot.  But so often we confuse knowledge with skill.  Just because you know a lot doesn’t mean you are skilled.  I was thinking about this after a recent family visit to the dentist.  The long-term family dentist was retiring and they brought in a new, recent graduate from a prestigious school.  He graduated with honors, he was highly decorated and clearly qualified as a subject matter expert.

The problem was, he wasn’t skilled.  At least not in bed side manner.

He knew all of the ins and outs of the dental profession, but lacked the skill to treat patients.

Now this isn’t a knock on him.  We all have to start out somewhere.  And we almost always know more than we are skilled.  In time his skill will grow to match his dental knowledge – but not yet.

So when you are picking out a subject matter expert to lead a project, don’t consider just knowledge.  Consider skill as well.

image provided by flickr user dbking

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